Linked Questions

29 votes
4 answers
41k views

What were the previous births of the characters of Mahabharata?

There is a very interesting story about Karna being an Asura named as Dambhodbhava. Quora: Who was Karna in his previous birth?. Arjuna-Krishna being Nara-Narayana kids, who fought with Dambhodbhava. ...
iammilind's user avatar
  • 19.8k
13 votes
4 answers
7k views

How strong lord krishna and Arjuna's friendship was?

We all know when Arjuna became confused as he faced his relatives on the battlefield, he turned to his friend and chariot-driver for help. Because Arjuna had such a friendly rapport with the Lord, his ...
Jay Modi's user avatar
  • 243
13 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did Trisiras predict his own death in a Vedic hymn?

Trisiras (AKA Vishwarupa) was the three-headed son of the divine architect Tvashta (AKA Vishwakarma). He was extremely devout, even serving as temporary guru of the gods when Brihaspati had abandoned ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
4k views

What is the story behind Lord Rudra (Shiva) holding the skull of Indra?

I read the extract as shown in the image below from Vayuviya Samhita Chapter 14 of Shiva Purana: In the verse # 9 (the highlighted one), it is said that: He (Lord Rudra) is brilliant holding the ...
Aby's user avatar
  • 10.1k
12 votes
2 answers
4k views

Did Vasishta's brother sage Agastya have a previous birth?

Most people only know about the fact the famous sage Vasishta, guru of Rama, was one of the mind-born sons of Brahma. What's not as well-known, however, is the fact that Vasishta is no longer the son ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

Is Draupadi a goddess?

There are many myths that say Draupadi is a goddess. Many people, including myself, have prayed to her. There are many legends of her being a goddess. Some legends are given below: It is said that ...
user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
4k views

How can Draupadi be a pathivrata (dutiful wife) while being married to 5 men?

What are the qualities and requirements needed to be a pathivrata? Draupadi is considered to be one of the Panchkannyas, and a great pathivrata too. This link says why Draupadi married 5 persons (the ...
Avis's user avatar
  • 1,567
8 votes
1 answer
871 views

Soul (Atma) of Arjuna

It is said that Nara-Narayana sages were born as Arjuna and Krishna respectively. But at the same time Arjuna is biological son of Indra. Also it is said that Draupadi is incarnation of wives of ...
The Destroyer's user avatar
  • 31.3k
7 votes
3 answers
753 views

Are the Pandavas the sons of Gods, or Gods themselves?

I am currently reading the Mahabharata, (Adi Parva) by Bibek Debroy, and it has a Chapter called the Vaivahik Parva, which explains how the Pandavas came to be. The relevant section has been explained ...
Darshit Patel's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
6k views

Irawati Karve says "Vidura is the biological father of Yudhiṣṭhira". Is she right? Which Upaniṣadic story is she referring to?

Irawati Karve in her book Yugānta, which is a commentary on the Mahābhārata, says: There are two more incidents which lend support to this contention [that Dharma is the son of Vidura]. After ...
Say No To Censorship's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Doubts regarding Nara-Narayana & previous lives of Pandavs

This link talks about Karna's past life and the story of Dambodbhava who has a fight with Narayana rishi - Which previous karma made Karna's life full of sorrow despite his benevolent nature? ...
user3750229's user avatar
  • 1,197
4 votes
1 answer
459 views

Who is the wood-cutter Indra promised would be honored in every Yagna?

Trisiras (AKA Vishwarupa) was the three-headed son of the divine architect Tvashta (AKA Vishakarma). He was an extremely devout sage, and as I discuss in this answer he even served as temporary guru ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

How could Pandavas marry Draupadi, who is their stepmother's rebirth?

I got a doubt from this question: Who were the previous Indras that incarnated as the Pandavas? The Pandavas were all SONS of gods: Yudhishthira was the son of Yama god of death, Bhima was the son ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
229 views

How many Indras did Shiva imprison?

After reading this question, I decided to do some research. However,there were two contradicting ideas: some said that Shiva had 4 Indras trapped in the cave while others said that there were 5 Indras....
user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
276 views

Goddess Shree and the five Indras

Draupadi was also an avatar of Goddess Shree or Wealth who was the wife to five Indras in their mortal manifestation, that is, the five Pandavas. She was born many times for imprisoning the Indras. ...
user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
63 views

What is the exact story of Lord Shiva & five Indras? [duplicate]

What was the exact story behind Lord Shiva & five previous Indras as per Mahabharata ? What was happened to them? What happened to the current Indra? How Lord Shiva had punished them?
user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
71 views

Do we have any information about previous births of Yudishthir, Bheem, Nakul and Sehdev? [duplicate]

In Mahabharata, we see that Pandava brothers have suffered a lot. Even when they were suppose to rule, they had to spend their large part of life in forests or fighting their own cousins or family ...
Aby's user avatar
  • 10.1k